Shooting an Elephant
An Analysis of the Three Main Messages from Shooting an Elephant Everything that you do in your life cannot be undone. Everything that you say, do, or think, cannot be taken back or be done over again. Everybody that has lived on this earth has made a decision that they later regret. Sometimes, the pain of having regrets can hurt people substantially. George Orwell, early in his life, made a mistake that ultimately affected him for the rest of his life. In Orwell’s Shooting an Elephant, Orwell tells the audience a story of when Orwell was once a police officer in Burma. Orwell served the British Empire in the colonization of Burma. One day, an elephant in must was ravaging a village, destroyed property, and ultimately …show more content…
During the essay, Shooting an Elephant, Orwell had a difficult time deciding whether or not to shoot the elephant that had previously ravaged a town. Once Orwell finally located the renegade elephant, he noticed that the elephant has calmed down and was eating peacefully. However, Orwell noticed that a group of sever thousand Burmese had been following him and expected Orwell to shoot and kill the elephant. Orwell knew that the Burmese would use the elephant for meat and other materials. Orwell, however, did not want to shoot the elephant, as he clearly stated on page 1323, “…I did not want to shoot the elephant.” Orwell found himself in a difficult position, he didn’t want to shoot the elephant, but the Burmese wanted him to. Orwell did not want to ruin the white man’s reputation by not shooting the elephant, so Orwell played in the crowd’s favor and shot the elephant multiple times. Orwell, after the event, had immediate remorse that lasted the rest of Orwell’s life. Orwell was peer pressured into doing something that he didn’t want to do. One of the often themes in modern day society is peer pressure. For example, a group of teenagers at a party may peer pressure one teen into drinking alcohol, even though it is against the law. The teen who is pressured keeps telling the other teens that he doesn’t want to drink. However, the teens continue to pressure the teen anyway, and finally the teen gives in. This is one of the more popular examples of peer pressure in modern day society. The list can go on and on but the theme remains the same, the innocent person who doesn’t want to do something can sometimes be pressured into doing something they don’t want to do. If Orwell had not been pressured by the Burmese the elephant would’ve lived and Orwell wouldn’t have endured the pain of remorse. Clearly, peer pressure can alter one’s decision
An Analysis of the Three Main Messages from Shooting an Elephant Everything that you do in your life cannot be undone. Everything that you say, do, or think, cannot be taken back or be done over again. Everybody that has lived on this earth has made a decision that they later regret. Sometimes, the pain of having regrets can hurt people substantially. George Orwell, early in his life, made a mistake that ultimately affected him for the rest of his life. In Orwell’s Shooting an Elephant, Orwell tells the audience a story of when Orwell was once a police officer in Burma. Orwell served the British Empire in the colonization of Burma. One day, an elephant in must was ravaging a village, destroyed property, and ultimately …show more content…
During the essay, Shooting an Elephant, Orwell had a difficult time deciding whether or not to shoot the elephant that had previously ravaged a town. Once Orwell finally located the renegade elephant, he noticed that the elephant has calmed down and was eating peacefully. However, Orwell noticed that a group of sever thousand Burmese had been following him and expected Orwell to shoot and kill the elephant. Orwell knew that the Burmese would use the elephant for meat and other materials. Orwell, however, did not want to shoot the elephant, as he clearly stated on page 1323, “…I did not want to shoot the elephant.” Orwell found himself in a difficult position, he didn’t want to shoot the elephant, but the Burmese wanted him to. Orwell did not want to ruin the white man’s reputation by not shooting the elephant, so Orwell played in the crowd’s favor and shot the elephant multiple times. Orwell, after the event, had immediate remorse that lasted the rest of Orwell’s life. Orwell was peer pressured into doing something that he didn’t want to do. One of the often themes in modern day society is peer pressure. For example, a group of teenagers at a party may peer pressure one teen into drinking alcohol, even though it is against the law. The teen who is pressured keeps telling the other teens that he doesn’t want to drink. However, the teens continue to pressure the teen anyway, and finally the teen gives in. This is one of the more popular examples of peer pressure in modern day society. The list can go on and on but the theme remains the same, the innocent person who doesn’t want to do something can sometimes be pressured into doing something they don’t want to do. If Orwell had not been pressured by the Burmese the elephant would’ve lived and Orwell wouldn’t have endured the pain of remorse. Clearly, peer pressure can alter one’s decision